Songfacts®:

• Following One Direction's third place finish on the British version of X Factor, the boys signed a £2 million record contract with Simon Cowell's label Syco. This is the title track of their debut album, which was initially released November 18, 2011 in Ireland and three days later in the UK. The record debuted at #2 in the UK, behind Rihanna's Talk That Talk, selling 138,163 copies, the highest sales for a #2 album and was the fastest-selling debut album on the UK Albums Chart of 2011. Up All Night also sold well in Europe, topping the Swedish and Italian charts.
• The stomping party anthem was co-written and produced by Matt Squire. The American rock producer and writer has also worked with Katy Perry, having produced a Rock mix for her hit single "I Kissed a Girl" and he was also the man behind the desk on the Californian singer's collaboration with 3Oh!3, "Starstrukk." It's probably not surprising then that we hear the boys namecheck the Teenage Dream songstress - "Katy Perry's on replay," we hear the boys sing.
• One Direction became the first British group in history to debut at #1 in the United States with their debut album when Up All Night entered the US Billboard 200 chart at its peak position. The previous British group act to claim the top spot stateside with their debut set was the Spice Girls. However, their 1996 record Spice took 14 weeks to arrive at the summit.
• One Direction became the first act with "one" in its name to top the American album chart when Up All Night debuted at the summit. The previous best chart ranking by a "one" - monikered act had been 112, who peaked at #2 with the album Part III in 2001.